The innovative design of the Eames home and studio began in 1945 when Arts & Architecture magazine launched the ambitious Case Study House Program, commissioning progressive-thinking architects of the day to experiment with cost-effective and efficient methods of home construction amidst the post-war housing boom. The idea was to explore new ways of using wartime industrial technology to build affordable homes for the multitude of veterans returning home en masse. When Ray and Charles first visited the Pacific Palisades site there was an instant connection, and according to Ray, “hocked everything we had to get it.”

Set in a Eucalyptus tree-lined meadow 150 feet above the Pacific Ocean and overlooking Santa Monica Beach, the property was an ideal place for both work and play for the Eameses. A serendipitous delay in the construction materials allowed them to spend more time at the property, resulting in a change to the original plan. Ray and Charles reconfigured the materials into the home and studio we see today, preserving the Eucalyptus trees and the surrounding nature that truly defines the property.